Also called: Air Force 13N, Nuclear and Missile Operations Officer
Air Force officer who sits on alert in an underground capsule, ready to launch nuclear missiles if ordered by the President.
Missileers work 24-hour alerts in pairs, 60 feet underground in Wyoming, Montana, or North Dakota, running checklists and testing systems. Most of the job is making sure nothing goes wrong. Afterward, many move into space operations, nuclear policy, or engineering.
RMC (base pay + housing/food allowances + tax advantage) for officers O-1 (2nd Lieutenant/Ensign) to O-5 (Lieutenant Colonel/Commander), 2026 estimate. A 20-year career also earns a lifetime pension starting right after retirement.
Approximate: anchored on Bureau of Labor Statistics data for a broader job group.
Bachelor's degree (4-year), about 4 years after high school. Bachelor's and Air Force commission, then ~6 months of missile training. Top Secret clearance and strict reliability screening. Free-college benefits: Tuition Assistance (up to $4,500/yr) while serving, the Post-9/11 GI Bill (36 months of tuition + housing stipend) afterward, and SkillBridge internships before separating.
Ways in: Military, 4-year college. Training cost: Get paid while you train.
Majors to look at: Any major, Engineering, Political Science.
Growing about average. Military specialties are not in BLS projections. The services recruit for this job every year and openings track force size and retention rather than market growth.
Low risk for 10 years. Systems are automated but the two-person launch rule keeps humans on nuclear alert.
Classes: Physics, Government / Civics, Computer science.
Career Universe is an early version. Pay, training and AI-risk figures are estimates to start your own research, not verified facts. The research was written with AI research assistants, checked by validation scripts and spot-checked by hand. Check anything important with schools, employers and official sources. How the numbers work.